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Halo 5: Guardians
"The quest of the hunter and the hunted has begun." : - Halo 5 Guardians' tagline ''Halo 5 Guardians ''is a first person shooter science fiction video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox One. It is the second game of the Reclaimer Saga, and the sequel to Halo 4. Halo 5 Guardians was released on October 27, 2015. Halo 5 ''managed to topple ''Halo 4's sales record, making $400 million dollars within the first week of launch. It contains almost all of the content found in previous games, save Firefight, which is present, but different from its predecessor. Story Plot The campaign of Halo 5 Guardians ''differs from ''Halo 4 ''and other ''Halo ''games in its delivery. Unlike ''Halo 4, the campaign is far shorter despite having more levels, but covers more story than Halo 4. The gameplay is also far quicker and twitch-based than previous Halo ''games, allowing the player to interact with the environment far more realistically and in a way that is satisfying. As the second game in the Reclaimer Saga, John-117 does return as a protagonist, but he now shares the role with a new character named Jameson Locke. Armor abilities are also replaced with the new Spartan abilities. The game begins on Reach in 2552. With piano music playing in the background, Doctor Catherine Halsey traverses her facility. Finally, she looks at a smiling Cortana, before placing her in the armored matrix she will soon give to Noble Six. The game skips to 2558; a year after the events of ''Halo 4. ''Fireteam Osiris, lead by Spartan Locke, is deployed by the [[UNSC Infinity|UNSC ''Infinity]] onto Kamchatka to extract Doctor Halsey from Jul 'Mdama's Covenant Remnant because she has information on a series of Forerunner attacks on human colonies. Fighting their way to Halsey's location, they find out that the Prometheans have turned on the Covenant Remnant, further weakening Jul 'Mdama's leadership. Continuing to fight their way through Covenant and Promethean forces, Osiris finally arrive and save Halsey, finally taking out Jul 'Mdama in the process. Arriving back on Infinity, Halsey asks Lasky "how far has she gone," much to Osiris' confusion. Elsewhere, Blue Team, led by John-117, insert into the Covenant-held ONI research vessel Argent Moon ''to take it back. While fighting through the Covenant scavengers, John-117 experiences a vision of Cortana activating an enormous winged machine and telling him that "Meridian is next." Recovering from the vision, he and Blue Team continue through the ship. After a Covenant fleet arrives to secure the wreckage however, they decide it is safer to scuttle the ship and deny the scavengers their prize. Setting the reactor to overload, the team heads to the hangar in the hopes of using an experimental ONI prowler to escape. Before leaving, Lasky contacts John-117 and orders him to return to the ''Infinity, but he refuses to follow them, and Blue Team leave on the prowler towards Meridian. Back on Infinity, Halsey reveals that Cortana has somehow gained access to the Domain, a galaxy-spanning repository of Forerunner knowledge. Worried that Cortana is manipulating John-117, Osiris is officially tasked with the mission to bring Blue Team back, hoping to neutralize them with armor restraints. Arriving at Meridian, they descend down the space elevator and are contacted by Governor Sloan, who grudgingly accepts their presence in exchange for assistance in repelling Promethean invasion forces, who had recently begun an assault on the colony. Fighting alongside the colony's Liang Dortmund Corporation security forces, Osiris fend off the Prometheans long enough for the colonists to get to safety, discovering that "Governor" Sloan is actually a smart AI undergoing rampancy, and pick up clues that eventually lead them to Apogee. Sloan arranges a Pelican to get Osiris there, and once there they find Blue Team's prowler; however, Blue Team has already descended into the planet, seemingly without any opposition. Osiris follow, battling Promethean forces along the way. They eventually come across a powerful Promethean named Warden Eternal, who says he is sworn to "protect Cortana." They battle him and manage to defeat him, and proceed further into the planet in pursuit of Blue Team. They eventually come across a Guardian, as well as Blue Team. Osiris pursues Blue Team through a set of portals, until finally cornering them just beneath the Guardian. Locke pleads with John-117 to stand down, but he refuses, as do Blue Team. Locke engages John-117 in hand-to-hand combat, hoping to disable him with an armor restriant, but this plan backfires, and John-117 defeats him, seizing the armor restraint and using it on Locke instead. Blue Team escape, using a slipspace portal to board the Guardian as it begins to activate, rising up to the surface. Osiris hastily escape the cavern, finding a slipspace portal to the surface. Upon reaching the suface, Osiris witness the Guardian continuing to ascend, devastating Meridian with deadly EMP shockwaves; to their surprise however, the colony seems to already be evacuating. Sloan reveals that Cortana had contacted him earlier to warn him about the Guardian's activation, giving him enough time to evacuate as many people as he could. He then goes on to say that he plans to join her in her "new dawn," where he then proceeds to disappear during the evacuation. Osiris ascend the space elevator to reach their Pelican, with the Guardian's shockwaves increasing in intensity. Finally, Osiris narrowly escape in their Pelican as the space elevator falls apart, and the Guardian enters slipspace. Later, aboard the Infinity, Halsey deduces that another dormant Guardian lies beneath the surface of Sunaion on Sanghelios. Moreover, Roland figures out that the distinctive sound the Guardian makes during its activation was actually a set of slipspace coordinates, and that if they can feed it into the Sanghelios Guardian it may allow them to follow Blue Team to their destination. Lasky is optimistic that Osiris can use the Guardian to get to Blue Team, but is reluctant to get the UNSC involved in the Sangheili civil war. Meanwhile, Blue Team's Guardian arrives on a lush Forerunner artificial planet called Genesis, and note the arrival and presence of other Guardians as well. They are led to a console by a familiar signal from their training, and encounter ragtag Covenant survivors dragged through in the wake of multiple Guardians' slipspace drives, who believe that the planet was promised by the Prophets. They encounter the Warden Eternal, who reveals he is capable of creating new bodies for himself. As Blue Team proceed closer to Cortana's location, the Warden questions John-117's loyalty to her, wondering what he intends to do with her. When John-117 announces he intends to take her home, the Warden declares him a threat to Cortana's goal, and he sends Promethean forces to kill Blue Team. After defeating the Warden and his forces, they are contacted by Cortana who explains that she arrived on Genesis via the wreckage of the Didact's ship after it was dragged through slipspace, and that her rampancy was cured by accessing the Domain. She leads Blue Team across the planet, towards the access point of the Domain itself. Meanwhile, the UNSC prepare to insert Osiris onto Sanghelios with an escort from the Swords of Sanghelios. Inserting near Sunaion, they learn that the Covenant Remnant has launched a last ditch effort to kill Thel 'Vadam and reverse its recent misfortunes. Osiris fight their way to the Elder Council Chamber, hoping that Thel 'Vadam can help them fight their way to the Guardian beneath Sunaion, which lies in Covenant hands. They arrive in time to evacuate Thel 'Vadam in a Phantom to a Swords of Sanghelios camp, where they make plans for a counterattack on Sunaion. During a tense moment between Thel 'Vadam and Locke (as Locke was hired in the past to assassinate Thel 'Vadam, and failed), Cortana makes her presence on the planet known. Halsey figures out that if they can acquire a Constructor Sentinel from one of the Forerunner ruins scattered across the planet, they can use it to activate the Guardian. Osiris are redeployed to recover one from a nearby Forerunner facility, fighting their way through Prometheans and Covenant while air support from the Swords of Sanghelios provides assistance, who are later forced to engage a Kraken. The Kraken positions itself between Osiris and the constructor's location, forcing the Spartan fireteam to board it. Once aboard, they destroy the Kraken's power core, and escape just before the Kraken plummets into the abyss. They finally recover the constructor and deliver to Thel 'Vadam's base, where Halsey reprograms it to find the Guardian. The constructor immediately sets about its task, and Thel 'Vadam gives a speech as he leads his forces in a massive assault against Sunaion to destroy the Covenant once and for all. Osiris fight their way through, assisting the Arbiter's warriors, but their priority is to reach the Guardian above all else. The Warden appears and leads Promethean forces into Sunaion to stop Osiris, but is again defeated. As the Sunaion Guardian activates, it charges its slipspace drive, creating similiar EMP pulses as those on Meridian, devastating Sunaion and the remaining Covenant forces. Commander Palmer and Halsey use a Pelican to get Osiris onto the Guardian just as it enters slipspace, but the Pelican suffers crippling damage, and crashes. The Arbiter watches the Guardian leave, commanding his forces to finish off the Covenant stragglers. Later, the Guardian arrives on Genesis, and Osiris manage to safely disembark onto the planet's surface. They attempt to contact John-117, only to be contacted by the planet's original monitor, 031 Exuberant Witness. Exuberant is horrified that the Warden and Cortana have locked her out of all systems, and explains to them Cortana's plan; she believes AI, the "Created", are the true reclaimers of the Mantle, and that she plans to "enforce the peace" on the galaxy by deploying Guardians all over the galaxy as a police force; those who refuse the peace would be ruthlessly destroyed, as a single Guardian is capable of wiping out an entire star system. She assists Osiris as they fight their way through Genesis, fighting disorganized Covenant and Prometheans along the way towards the Gateway, a link to the Domain, noting that Cortana has actually been leading Blue Team in circles to buy herself some time. Osiris and Exuberant fight through more Promethean forces, who are buying Cortana even more time to bring the Domain's systems online. Osiris meet up with Blue Team, with Locke offering to help them stop Cortana. Before they can do anything however, Cortana translocates Blue Team away. Reappearing in a different location, Blue Team is once again confronted by the Warden, who tries to convince Cortana that they are a threat to her plan. Cortana does not believe him however, and destroys his latest body to protect Blue Team. John-117 however reveals that he is aware of Cortana's attempts to manipulate them, and that he has been suspicious of her ever since arriving on Genesis, asking her about the casualities the Guardians have been inflicting. As Promethean forces renew their attacks against Blue Team, Kelly-087 surmizes that Cortana is deliberately allowing the Warden his numerous counterattacks to give herself more time. Warden states that while the Librarian had planned and prepared humanity to take up the mantle, the task of reclamation was that of the Created to uphold. John-117 was never the reclaimer - Cortana was. He repeatedly urges Cortana to see Blue Team as a threat as he finally engages the team in multiple bodies simultaneously. Cortana tells him that if he trusts her to use the Domain, then he should trust her when she puts her own trust in Blue Team, revealing that she is simply using them for her own ends. Finally defeating the Warden, Blue Team confront Cortana, where the Warden tries to overwhelm them with dozens of his bodies, but Cortana stops him. Cortana approaches them, now reborn and in a new body. John-117 pleads with her to come home, but Cortana refuses, and immobilizes Blue Team before imprisoning them in a Forerunner Cryptum, where she plans to take them with her when she goes to police the galaxy. Osiris follows the Cryptum, baring witness as the Guardians take formation and prepare to leave to begin their invasion; they also watch as hundreds of AIs, including Sloan, pledge allegiance to Cortana, arriving over Genesis to join her new armada. As Osiris tries to stop the Cryptum from departing with Cortana, she attempts to use their individual histories to demoralize them, and accuses them of being pale imitations of "her" Spartans. Locke retorts that Halsey trusts them enough to bring Blue Team back - Cortana says that she will have her punishment soon enough. Exuberant continues to help Osiris progress, battling through Promethean forces. Cortana announces that she plans to place Blue Team in stasis for ten thousand years, giving herself time to consolidate her grip on the galaxy, as she begins to leave Genesis on her Guardian; all around them, Guardians enter slipspace, heading towards their designated attack sites. Cortana begins to broadcast across the entire galaxy, promising peace under her benevolent rule - and warning those who resist will be conquered through force. Cortana tries to take the Cryptum with her as her Guardian enters slipspace, but discovers to her horror that Osiris has restored control of Genesis back to Exuberant, who quickly seizes the Cryptum from Cortana's grasp and pulls it away; Cortana is helpless to stop her as her Guardian disappears into slipspace, taking Cortana with her as she screams out John-117's name. Afterwards, Blue Team is finally released from their prison and reunited with Osiris. John-117 asks where Cortana is, and Locke merely responds with "she's gone, sir." Cortana, her AIs and her Guardians begin to shutting down UNSC control across human space, attacking entire colonies with massive EMP blasts to disable them and leave them defenseless. She tracks down Infinity, but Lasky orders an emergency slipspace jump, and manages to escape Cortana's grasp. Lasky declares his intention to find a way to stop Cortana, and sets a course for Sanghelios. On Sanghelios, Thel 'Vadam, Palmer and Halsey watch as a Pelican lands, and Osiris and Blue Team are reunited with them. Halsey is reunited with John-117 and her spartans. In the Legendary ending after the credits, a lush, green planet can be seen, with a Halo ring in orbit. Cortana is heard humming a tune as the scene fades to black. Characters